I have a cross check and I've toured fairly heavy on it year round.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/tags/crosscheck/

I did switch the front fork over to a LHT front fork so I could put a
proper road touring rack on it.

I probably have close to 30,000 miles on it.

(more on this further down)


Re: touring on a race bike

I also just posted about my recent discovery that I can fit all my
touring gear on my Scandium (Aluminum alloy) and Carbon road bike
even though it doesn't take larger then a 25mm tire, weighs only 19.5
lbs, and has not a single mount point for anything but two water
bottle cages.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/3656893283/

Some people would call the idea of touring on a 19.5lb bike with 25mm
tires crazy. Honestly... while I'm just starting to see what it can do
I think it's very unrealistic for doing anything but tours on the best
of roads... and it's not like we can pick our roads when we're doing
serious touring.

That said... I'll probably use it for a bunch of quick overnighters
where I just follow my nose and do a lot of miles. I've had a lot of
luck with this and since I don't have any predefined route and only a
notion of destination I can avoid the bad roads. Most touring is
however not like this.

However... if I can tour with this crazy bike then I'm sure if you
have a passion for going light and forgoing any kind of racks (as most
here do)... that you could take a slightly more practical light race /
go-fast bike that accommodates at least 28 or 30mm tire and turn it
into one heck of a lightweight tourer.

Indeed that's what Igor ( http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/bikes.htm )who
just posted here on the mailing list is doing and he has a tremendous
amount of experience doing it. (Far, far, more then I) He appears to
be using as of late off the shelf entry level race bikes like the
Giant OCR, Fuji and others. What's more he's got tremendous
experience and has over the years arrived at this setup by going
through a long line of more traditional touring bikes and gear. He
has in essence slowly whittle away at the amount of gear and the
functions he needs in a touring bike to arrive at this setup. He also
seems to be using more practical 28-32mm tires... and these seem to
work for him even in remote and developing worlds.



== Back to the Cross Check vs. the LHT ==

I am fairly familiar with the LHT though I've not ridden one for
anything but a short ride.

The differences between the two are.

1) geometry... I have not ridden the LHT but I assume the seat tube
and fork angles are much more relaxed, the LHT may have a longer top
tube as well

2) the Cross has no water bottle mount underneath the downtube. (I
personally miss this since it's the perfect place to put a fuel bottle
and have been trying to come up with a workaround for some time.)

3) the cross by default has no mid fork braze-ons for mounting low
rider touring racks... though you can buy an LHT fork separately and
put it on if money is no object.

4) tire clearance... this is negligible for most, but the cross can
supposedly take 45mm tires while the LHT can take only 42mm. If
you're planning on off road touring... i.e. great divide or just back
road touring... then it makes a huge difference once you start running
in the mud.

Basically... unless you're touring off road... go with the LHT. It's
hands down the better spec'd touring bike.

The cross was never really spec'd for touring. The only reason I've
been touring on it is because I got it just for riding Michigan's back
roads... then I sort of got into touring after the fact. Oh... I love
it, but I definitely would have bought a LHT had I set out to use it
for touring in the first place.

Now... if you are planning on doing off road touring... then don't get
the cross check either. lol.

Consider the Salsa Fargo... hands down one of the most unique and well
spec'd back road / off road touring bikes.

They don't recommend you use less then a 42mm tire with it because of
bottom bracket height. But I imagine it'd do pretty good on road with
some nice Continental Travel Contact 37mm, or Specialized Infinity
Armadillo 38mm. Both of which I use and love for touring on my cross.

The fargo also has every braze-on and mount imaginable. It has SIX
water bottle mounts including two on either side of the front fork.
It has also has fender and rack mounts front and rear and mid fork
mount placements.

The only thing wrong with general touring with the Salsa Fargo is it's
built like an OX... so while you'd be hard pressed to break it under
any conditions... it's going to run a little heavy if all you want to
do is on road touring. "Overbuilt for general paved road touring" is
how I'd put it.


== typical touring bike vs. road / race bike ==

First, not to be redundant but you should really check out all Igor's
progression of lightweight touring bikes if you haven't already.

http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/bikes.htm



That would probably illustrate far more then I can say, but let me
list out some of the issues with using such a bike.

1) geometry... race bikes have much more aggressive geometry. You'll
sit more forward, and be more leaned over... you can raise the
handlebars on a road bike with a new stem, but you'll then have a
shorter cockpit.

2) tire clearance... most race / road specific bikes have frames
accommodating no more then a 28-30mm. Many road bikes have far less
than that. This is really the minimal tire size limit for general
touring in my opinion. Furthermore even if the frames aren't a
limiting factor the road brakes are. Road brakes can accommodate 30mm
/ 32mm at most... what's more if your wheel gets some wobble or you
take it in the mud the clearance becomes an issue.

By contrast a touring bike uses cantilevers which offer tremendous
stopping power and can accommodate much larger tires and plenty of mud
/ snow clearance.

I was once able to patch a 5inch gash in a sidewall with my plastic
map holder and still use the brakes... it was bulging nicely but the
cantilever brakes allowed plenty of clearance. In the end it saved my
ride as it got me to the nearest bike shop.

You'll have to pardon me... there are other issues with using a
lightweight racing bike as a touring bike but I'm going to have to
continue this at another time. Sorry... have to run unexpectedly.

-Mike
mmeiser.com/blog




On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 1:06 PM, J M<john63401@...> wrote:
> Is there anyone out there that has ridden or owns BOTH bikes and can
> tell me how the ride between the two differs?
>
> Is the Cross Check more nimble and quicker responding?   Seem more "lively"?
>
> I'm very interested in the previous post abt the guy who outfitted his
> racing bike for overnight touring and how much fun it was.
>
> I can only afford one bike and don't want a race bike so was thinking
> of cross bike that could do what he has done and also serve as
> commuting bike.... yet still feel lively and fast like his setup
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>